USA Gymnastics' new medical chief is out after one day and federation won't say why

USA Gymnastics continues to get bogged down in messes of its own making.

A day after announcing it had hired Edward Nyman as its first director of sports medicine and science, the federation backtracked Tuesday, saying his “employment will not continue due to a conflict of interest.” No other details were provided, including why the disqualifying information wasn’t uncovered during the hiring process, and USA Gymnastics said it could not comment further because it is a personnel matter.

The quick U-turn, and the confusion surrounding it, is yet another false start for an organization still trying to recover from the damage of Larry Nassar’s widespread abuse. It also damages the credibility of CEO Li Li Leung, who has promised that the organization will be more transparent and responsive.

It also comes a week after Leung, a former gymnast who was a longtime NBA executive, had to apologize for tone-deaf comments about Nassar. Leung said she had been treated by Nassar in the early 1990s when she was a competitive gymnast, and said she believed he didn’t abuse her because her coach was present.

The lack of details left some to wonder if Nyman was let go because women who were abused by Nassar had objected to his appointment. More than 350 women have said Nassar, the longtime team physician for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State, abused them, often under the guise of medical treatment.

“Competing elite gymnasts are stakeholders. A number of them were abused by Larry Nassar. None of them were consulted about this pick. None of my clients abused by Nassar want anything to do with male physicians. Typical,” John Manly, an attorney who represents many of the women suing USA Gymnastics over Nassar’s abuse, said on Twitter.

But that was a misinterpretation of Nyman’s role, and USA Gymnastics later put out another statement saying his departure "was not based on any comments made on social media platforms or anywhere else."

Nyman is not a physician but, rather, a Ph.D. who is the chair of Health and Human Performance at the University of Findlay. He was to develop a sports science plan for all of USA Gymnastics’ disciplines – men’s and women’s gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline and tumbling and acrobatics – and oversee their individual medical staffs.

He also would have been the liaison between the federation and the U.S. Olympic Committee and U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.